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LA Noire credits missing 130, developers accuse

Over 130 developers are claiming to have been omitted in LA Noire's end-game credits. Having been snubbed by Rockstar and Team Bondi, they have launched a revised credits list.

Seven years and hundreds of developers later, LA Noire made it to store shelves, easily becoming one of the biggest games to come out of Australia. However, it appears that many contributors to the project have been omitted in the game's credits. In fact, over 130 people are claiming to have been snubbed by Sydney-based Team Bondi and the game's publisher, Rockstar.

A diverse group of people are seeking credit, from those that did work on the engine, to code and QA people, and more. One developer spoke to The Sydney Morning Herald, stating that he had to work 10-12 hours "almost every day and on weekends," and said that working for Team Bondi as--in similar fashion to other Rockstar studios--"inflexible and virtually praise-free." No wonder he, along with over a hundred others, feel particularly frustrated that "most of the people that worked on [the game] will never have proof of having worked there."

One theory that explains why some individuals were omitted from the game's closing credits is the fact that their work doesn't really appear in the final product. After such a lengthy development process, the project went under several revisions, undoubtedly rendering some work useless. "The nature of game development is that it's very iterative in the sense that obviously what comes out in the final product is built on a base of what happened at the very start," a source counter-argued. "Our work is in the game, we see it - we see our fingerprints on things we have done and finished and put in the game, but unfortunately we aren't credited."

For now, the developers have set up their own website on lanoirecredits.com that provides the "complete" list of individuals that worked on the game, as per "official" IGDA guidelines. These guidelines say that "any contractor or employee who has contributed to the production of a game for at least 30 days must be credited." However, the report notes that no studios have actually formally adopted these guidelines.

It's unlikely that other recognition in any official capacity will be offered, as some were told that "they would not be credited unless they stayed with the company until the game shipped." It may be unfair, but a spokesperson for the IGDA Melbourne told the Sydney newspaper that "it's important for individuals working in the industry to check their contracts before signing them so they are aware of how and where they will be credited for their work."